Problems have been piling up one after another and, so far, Hales hasn't come up with answers to any. But despite the uproar -- during what has easily been Hales' worst seven-day span in office -- Portland's new mayor is unlikely to suffer any long-term damage, political analysts say.

"It's a good test and people will be interested in seeing how Charlie responds to it," Bill Lunch, a retired Oregon State University political science professor who tracks Northwest politics, said Tuesday. "But he certainly has the background to do well. Doesn't mean he'll do well."

While Hales' problems aren't truly crises -- at least not in the sense that former Mayor Sam Adams had with his 2009 sex scandal, or even President Obama for the IRS' targeting of conservative groups and a separate decision to seize reporters' phone records -- he nonetheless is in an uncharacteristic position.

After returning to City Hall after a decade absence, Hales this year has gone toe-to-toe with Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen and others over budget cuts. He's taken on the police command union and orchestrated a major restructuring of city commissioners' responsibilities. And each has had mostly positive results, if not directly with the players involved than in the court of public opinion.

But trouble began Friday when U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall took shots at Hales for not following through with regular meetings among top brass, as called for under a 2011 Portland City Council agreement on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

On Saturday, The Oregonian reported that Graham, Portland's chief administrative officer, last year attempted to divert water and sewer money to the city's general fund. An investigation later substantiated that he had been clearly warned about the "impropriety" of the transfer but he faced no discipline. Hales has refused multiple interview requests to talk about the issue and won't release the report, prompting Portland's auditor and others to say the public deserves to know details.

Then on Sunday, Willamette Week reported that Artharee, one of Hales' three policy directors, made inappropriate and suggestive public comments about Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith at a dinner Thursday. Hales didn't immediately apologize to Smith and waited until Tuesday to announce a formal investigation by the Bureau of Human Resources.

"As we said from the start, we are treating this issue seriously," Hales said in a prepared statement about the Artharee investation. "We are treating it as a complaint regarding actions in violation of the city's anti-harassment policy."

Observers say they'll wait to see how the three cases unfold.

"Charlie's still in his probationary period," entrepreneur Roy Jay said Tuesday. "This is his first six months, and he's still in trial and error."

But the longer it takes for Hales to act, Jay said, the worse the mayor looks. Jay added that "Baruti should have known better" and there are "certain lines that you just do not cross."

"I'm sure the mayor will take appropriate action, whatever that may be," he said. "You just can't ignore it."

Meanwhile, Hales is being pressed to release the investigation of Graham, which the city has been fighting to keep secret since May.

"I think he really wants there to be transparency" in government, said attorney John DiLorenzo, who is representing a group of Portland residents suing the city over improper utility spending. "I think he needs to have the discipline to follow through on his promises," even when it's difficult.

Despite the recent bumps, lobbyist and political analyst Len Bergstein credits Hales for a mostly smooth beginning. Hales' plodding pace responding to the latest problems is intentional, he said, and contrasts starkly with the act-now social media mentality of Adams.

"The overall tone of the administration is one of attempting to be disciplined and not to shoot from the hip," he said.

So in the end, what's Hales to make of these crises?

That remains to be seen.

But for the mayor's future, it might not matter.

"A lot of times, you'll get this situation where a politician will have a misstep or two -- and it doesn't matter squat to the average voter," pollster Tim Hibbitts said. "And right now, we're probably in that mode."